Thomas Tipton

I'm sensing some confusion about your question.  Mixing clay and sand is great for a mortar that is easily removed/replaced/repaired.  Clay slip is what you use for firebrick when you just dip your brick in a very liquid clay slip for a thin coating of clay that serves to eliminate air gaps.

Depending on the quality of your clay you could just  mix some up in a bucket with a paddle mixer, work all the clumps out of it and strain it through a paint strainer.  
That's why I did when I was experimenting with my backyard clay and my clay is of a quality that fires very nicely.  Haven't tried it for setting firebrick yet, but I'm pretty certain it would work just fine.

I've long pondered over a primitive way to throttle the aperature for secondary air.  Recently, while working on a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair engine, I took notice of how the cylinder heads make use of a bimetallic spring connected to an actuator rod that travels through a metal sleeve.  As the spring warms, it begins to open and this action pushes the rod, which in turn pushes a small metal valve open.  It could work much the same way in a RMH as the secondary air isn't desired until the stove is warm.  The hotter it gets, the more air would be allowed into the system, and as it cools, the secondary air is restricted until it closes completely.  All automated, with zero electronics.

Very interesting.  It looks as if there are really two pinches.  one near the bottom as noted, and a smaller one a little further up.  These "pinches" to my mind, would act as the "Tripwire" used in many of RMH designs, but I've never seen them used on the riser, which may very well add a bit more of the Three T's we look for,  (Time, Temperature, and Turbulence) at the very last opportunity in the combustion zone.  

Now, who would like to propose how to make it?

William.  Could you elaborate a little more on what you would do with said "Plunger Tube" and how that would work in the water heater tank.

I have such a tank plumbed with threaded fittings at the top and bottom of the "Central Chimney" that I intend to use for the solar collector side of a solar thermal hot water heater.  In which case it would radiate the heat into the 50 gallons of domestic water in the outer jacket.  What are you thinking???

For what it's worth, a 12 volt battery and a small 12 volt pump installed on the cold side would make your system work like a charm.

Use a six inch fastener bit extension for your drill motor if you have one and you can pop those cans into the plywood with one screw right in the convex section of the can on the bottom.  Works like a charm.

I built a soda can collector once upon a time.  I found a can opener that would remove the inner part of the can top. Where the opening is.  I then painted many cans with hi-temp black spray paint.  I built a 4 x 8 foot frame with plywood and foam board.  Used 2 x 6 framing for the sides and covered it in a sheet of plexiglas.  There were 2 x 6 baffles inside to help guide the air around in a maze of sorts to give it a good length of time in the collector.  there were inlet and outlet ports on the same side of the panel and it was all driven by a bathroom fan.  If I had to do it again I would use a computer fan, as the bathroom fan was overkill.

Splitfire up in Canada makes a fine electric/hydraulic wood splitter.  I bought one.  The build quality is fantastic.  Yes, it was rather expensive, but it's something my grandchildren will probably pass on to their kids.

I've been meaning to chime in on this thread for a while now.  I have tentative plans for a large solar array to be placed on the roof of a future pole barn/workshop.  There would be enough electricity produced to cover all of my needs plus some extra.  The problem with the extra is that Ohio Utilities don't pay squat for surplus energy credits.  My thinking was that I could use up my excess capacity by running a small welding shop.  

Hi Permies.

I'm planning an organic pool.  Although I was inspired by David Pagan Butler's ideas, I will not be following his typical build.  I am approaching it something more like a conventional pool, although I will be incorporating the airlift means of circulating the water.  My plans include a singular, large vertical pipe with which to move a column of water which will then be divided into two pipe sections that will carry the water in two different directions down into the filtration beds. As I imagine it, the beds will consist of larger stones on the bottom and will be covered with stones increasingly smaller in size until the last few inches or so that will consist of pea gravel.  So in this pool, the water will rise from the bottom of the filtration bed, up through the stones and gravel until it reaches the surface.  I have read that some natural pools that filter from the top down have developed a problem with the beds getting clogged up with debris.  It is my hope that the bottom up approach might prevent this.  Now, to the point of this post.  Is it possible that certain organisms could be employed to assist in keeping the gaps between the stones and gravel clear?

If so, what kind of organisms/species?
I'm thinking of some kind of freshwater shrimp, but IDK.  I live in zone 6B and Winter can be somewhat hostile here.